


Trouvaille

by FireFaceOutlook



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Aftertale Sans (Undertale) - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Aftertale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Errortale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Errortale Sans (Undertale), Errortale Sans/Underswap Sans (Undertale), Gen, Geno Sans (Undertale) - Freeform, Hurt Sans (Undertale), M/M, Underswap Papyrus (Undertale), Underswap Sans (Undertale)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:55:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28668834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireFaceOutlook/pseuds/FireFaceOutlook
Summary: Traveling through the void was a nifty trick, but one Sans tried to avoiddoing unless it was in a pinch, like when he woke up late for his shift or was too tired from training with Alphys to walk home and the Riverperson wasn’t stationed in Waterfall.  (Also, his brother was so jealous of Sans’ “shortcuts” that it made the shorter skeleton feel guilty whenever he used them.)  However, tracking down the source of the magic was a critical priority.  There could be a monster lost in the forest and in need of assistance; or someone very dangerous who needed to be confronted before they stumbled across Snowdin Town and hurt anyone.It turned out to be… a little of both.
Relationships: Papyrus & Sans (Undertale), Sans & Sans (Undertale), Sans/Sans (Undertale)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	Trouvaille

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N: This is gonna be an ErrorBerry story. I had this interesting little idea pop up after seeing some fanart of Geno and Blue interacting, and since Geno = Error, this evolved from it.**

It started with an explosion. It shook the ground, swayed the trees, and stirred Sans from the doze he’d fallen into at his post. He shot upright, staring towards the depths of Snowdin Forest, eye sockets wide. Magic stirred in his left eye socket defensively, but it fizzled out when he sensed the souls of the rabbit guards closing in on his station. He turned to greet them; they looked as worried as he felt.

“You heard it too, then,” Greater Rabbit grunted, grip on their spear tight.

“No,” Sans admitted. “I sure felt it, though.” A surge of magic the likes of which Sans had never felt before except in the presence of Her Majesty, and he was sure the queen wasn’t expelling magic in the middle of the forest.

“The people of Snowdin are concerned about the possibility of a cave-in,” Lesser Rabbit said. “What should we do?”

Sans stood from his seat, rounding the edge of his post. “I’ll investigate,” he offered. “Why don’t you two return to town and insure that the townspeople are alright; that no one was hurt in the quake.” The duo saluted before returning down the path to town. Once they were out of sight, Sans took a deep breath, adjusted his scarf, and took the plunge.

Traveling through the void was a nifty trick, but one Sans tried to a _void_ doing unless it was in a pinch, like when he woke up late for his shift or was too tired from training with Alphys to walk home and the Riverperson wasn’t stationed in Waterfall. (Also, his brother was so jealous of Sans’ “shortcuts” that it made the shorter skeleton feel guilty whenever he used them.) However, tracking down the source of the magic was a critical priority. There could be a monster lost in the forest and in need of assistance; or someone very dangerous who needed to be confronted before they stumbled across Snowdin Town and hurt anyone.

It turned out to be… a little of both.

  


Sans arrived in a clearing very deep in the forest; he could tell because he could vaguely make out one of the walls of the underground cavern monsterkind dwelled within in the distance. But that wasn’t his main focus; his attention rested instead on the skeleton collapsed on their hands and knees in the snow on the opposite edge of the clearing. The magical output from them was on a whole other level compared to the run-of-the-mill monster; it was almost on par with a Boss Monster’s. Even more concerning in Sans’ eyes, though, was the _giant hole_ melted into the side of their skull, from which a red and blue mist escaped. _Their magic._ Sans took a single step forward, concerned, but froze when the monster lifted their head. Sans’ eye lights guttered out as he took in the terrifying scene before him.

The skeleton’s right eye socket was a melting mass, and in their left flickered their eye light, blue and red and engorged with fear-intent magic. Marrow trickled down their chin, speckling the snow below them, but when Sans glanced down at it, he did a double take because there was _too much marrow_. When he took another step, the skeleton’s eye light shrunk, as if just registering they weren’t alone, and they tried to retreat, but only managed to leverage themself upright before slumping back into the tree behind them. Sans clenched his teeth against the nausea rocketing through him at the sight of the deep gash running from the skeleton’s right shoulder to their left hip. It was _seeping_ \- staining their white clothes red - though whether from the movement of the output of magic, Sans couldn’t tell. What he _could_ tell, though, was that they needed help, and _immediately_.

“It’s okay,” he said, softly, trying not to startle them further. “I only want to help you.”

He crept forwards, and though the skeleton watched him with an eerie sharpness, considering the magic and marrow-loss they were probably experiencing, they didn’t move; it was likely that they simply didn’t have the energy to do anything more than they already had. He stopped an arm’s length away and slowly lowered himself into a crouch, hands held up where they could see. His eyes kept flickering between theirs to the wound, but he only had one hp, and if he triggered them, he could end up dust, and they would likely follow suit very quickly afterwards.

“My name is Sans.” He offered a reassuring smile, fighting not to falter when their expression pinched in pain or fear or maybe a combination of both. “I’m a member of the Royal Guard. Please, let me help you.”

They regarded him a moment longer before their eye light shrunk further, the color bleaching out until it was a single white dot; the mist dispersed in the breeze picking up between the trees. Sans let out a relieved sigh as the overwhelming magic presence dwindled to something more on par with his own levels. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and retrieved the emergency medical supplies stored in the subspace, then inched closer until he was seated beside their outstretched legs. He reached for their shirt, glancing up at them questioningly, but they simply closed their remaining eye with an exhausted sigh that sounded too wet for his liking. He gently rolled their shirt up and couldn’t contain the sharp gasp that escaped between his teeth. Their wound was bad - _really_ bad -, but _nothing_ in comparison to the condition their _bones_ were in. Pockmarked and half-formed as they were, Sans wasn’t sure how the skeleton was able to support themself, but he swallowed his nerves and started bandaging their torso to the best of his ability. He wasn’t sure of the origins of the wound, but it had to have a _lot_ of intent behind it to go so deep as to leave lasting damage on their magic like it was.

“Could you stay awake?” he asked, only glancing up long enough to catch their eye opening slowly before he returned his focus to his current task. “Sorry, I know you’re probably _dy-_ ” He choked slightly on his own words. “ _-very eager_ to sleep, but until I’m sure you’re out of the dangerzone, I’d like you to stay with me. Uh, what’s your name?”

To their credit, they _tried_ answering him, but he could hardly make out the mumble they managed. He swore he caught _“sans”_ somewhere in there, though.

“Hah, no kidding? What a coincidence; my name is Sans, too. Sans Serif.” They huffed out a small breath that Sans took as a laugh, and he chuckled along with them. “Yeah, I find that pretty amusing as well. I’m gonna guess your name is more on the _comical_ side.” He barely caught the slight bob of their head and beamed as he finished taping down the last of the bandages. “I’ll call you ‘Comic,’ then, if that’s alright with you.” He looked up to better see their answer and was startled to see their head bowed, eye socket closed - dead to the world, for lack of a better phrase. Their “nod” hadn’t been a reply; it was them passing out.

Sans did a quick once-over to make sure there were no more wounds on them before he attempted to move them; their head wound, while horrifying to look at, _appeared_ old and hadn’t gotten worse in the time he spent in their company. He bundled Comic - even if it _wasn’t_ their name, he needed something to call them besides their shared name - up in his arms and opened the shortcut to Snowdin Town. It deposited him in the center of town, where the tree was set up, and he ended up startling a couple residents, but he didn’t have time to apologise. He was already getting tired from making such a big jump after tearing open a new path through space and time to get to Comic earlier.

“Someone,” he called to the spectators, “alert the inn dogs. This monster needs help - _fast_! And someone send word to the Royal Scientist; we’re probably going to need her here.”

A few of the townsfolk scattered to do as he asked, and Lesser Rabbit appeared not long after, offering him assistance with delivering Comic to the inn. He gladly accepted the help and the two of them carried the injured monster between them, being ushered inside the inn and to a back room where they laid Comic onto a spare mattress and stood back to allow the inn dogs to start funneling green magic into their bones. Sans slumped against the nearest wall, sliding to the ground, and watched listlessly as the dogs struggled to keep Comic alive. He remained in that position until Undyne and Papyrus - who’d used his day off to go hang out with Undyne - arrived.

**Author's Note:**

> **Trouvaille (noun): Something lovely discovered by chance.**
> 
> prompt: _“I've got you, okay? You don't have to be afraid anymore. I'm here. I've got you.”_ **[@dialogue-prompts]**


End file.
